10 Weirdly useful things you can learn from YouTube

YouTube abounds with information, some useful, some completely useless, and some that defies all reason to exist. You can find videos on how to pour beer, shower and tie your shoes in the correct way. Who knew that you’d been doing it wrong all this time? There are also hints on how to take apart an ATM, cheat on a test and stalk your ex-girlfriend. None of which is advisable, but you can still learn how to do it anyway. Every now and then, however, you stumble upon a video that could be useful (to some) and fun to watch.

1. How to make a wi-fi extender
What this video lacks in epic personality, it makes up for with brilliant ingenuity. It shows you how to increase the strength of your wi-fi router using aluminium foil, paper and a little glue.

2. How to open a beer with paper
Who wouldn’t want to learn this? While foil and glue are impressive additions to make a wi-fi extender, this video proves that all you need to open a beer is a sheet of paper. With just a few “origami” folding techniques, you can have a bottle opener that doubles as a device for opening beer and as a conversation starter.

3. How to open a bottle of wine without a corkscrew
With the beer taken care of, attention has to turn to that special romantic evening. You have the meal, the girl and the wine, but no corkscrew. Thank goodness for this video. It demonstrates how to take the screw, screwdriver and hammer lying around your apartment (because we all have those lying around), and create your own macho, DIY corkscrew.

4. How to mod your USB flash drive
So you may not be the macho-type, but this video shows even the geekiest among us, that we can make our own personalised USB flash drive. Shoe, Ninja Turtle, jam? Whatever you feel is flash worthy, this video will show you how to attach it to your flash drive.

5. How to pick a lock
You’ve may have forgotten your keys at home, but with this instructional video you don’t have to worry about getting back into your apartment. In five minutes, you can learn how to use the contents of your purse, which includes a tension wrench (yes, women’s purses carry everything except a spare set of keys), and pick the lock to your front door.

6. How to unlock your car with your cellphone.
If you forget your keys at home, there is little doubt that you will also lock your keys in your car. This video demonstrates how you can record the frequency of your electric car lock onto your cellphone, and then use it to free your trapped keys.

7. How to zombie proof your car
You’ve may have freed your keys, but that’s not going to help when the zombie apocalypse finally comes. Added to this, you are also shown the most effective weapons to use, and how to reinforce your bumper to plough through any approaching undead.

8. How to be ninja
But what happens if you can’t get hold of a car to ‘trick out’ to fight zombies? You learn how to be a ninja. To be fair, this is an entirely pointless video, but incredibly funny if you can appreciate the deprecating politically incorrect jokes. So it may not be a ‘technical’ how to video and you probably won’t end up with all the ninja moves, but you can try. And if all else fails, you’ll have a good laugh in the process.

9. How to annoy a telemarketer
But for a more realistic and useful lesson, the best video has to be this one. Next time that pesky sales rep phones, make sure that you have a selection of random and irritating noises saved on your hard-drive. Then when they start asking you silly questions, you can regale them with sounds of flushing toilets.

10. How to do the world’s best banana trick
And finally, just in case you haven’t been able to amuse your friends with your wi-fi extender, paper bottle-opener or zombie-destructo mobile, you can impress them by magically slicing a banana without peeling it.